By Mike Orso
5 Quick Things to Know about Chris McKee:
1. Favorite food: Pork chops
2. Favorite sports team: Chicago Cubs
3. Favorite crop/livestock I raise: Pigs
4. If I wasn’t farming I’d be: A doctor or lawyer; good pay
5. What most people don’t know about me is: I have 5 kids
Farmers have many tools. Perhaps the one attached to Woodstock farmer Chris McKee’s right ear serves as his most valuable one.
“I’ve had 49 phone calls and 57 text messages today,” McKee counted recently from his phone connected to his wireless, bluetooth earpiece as he waited for a grain wagon to be delivered to a farm field he was harvesting. “We had a lot going on today, from combining, baling, trucking, with people all over the place.”
Some of those calls and texts can also be attributed to his role as the recently re-elected president of the McHenry County Farm Bureau. Last month, McKee, 41, began his second year as one of the youngest and the first Millennial elected to that role.
“I’ve learned a lot, actually,” said McKee about his inaugural year leading the organization made up of farmers, agricultural professionals and others in McHenry County. “I had a pretty good idea of what is going on, but there are a lot of moving wheels all of the time.”
The Woodstock farmer wants the organization to support active farmers and serve as a resource of information about farmers and farming to the organization’s non-farmer members and other McHenry County residents.
“Anyone that ever has a question about agriculture or why something is done, I think we’re really a good resource,” said McKee. “They can go to the Farm Bureau and get the answers.”
The organization recently co-sponsored the McHenry County Farm Stroll, attracting more than 7,800 to 11 farms across the county. Its political action committee interviewed candidates for the McHenry County Board and selected endorsements. Its Ag Expo held last spring at the county fairgrounds in Woodstock reached over 1,300 grade schoolers. Its first “DrawDown” event at the end of winter attracted more than 200 Farm Bureau members for an evening of fellowship and fun in Harvard to benefit the organization’s foundation.
As he harvested soybeans in a rural Woodstock field recently, McKee characterized 2024 as an “average” year for his crops of soybeans, corn, wheat, rye, peas and other conventionally-and-organically grown field crops.
“It has been a rollercoaster,” said McKee. “We started out wet and ended up dry. We seem to be a week or two ahead of schedule just because of the dryness. We don’t need a wet stretch.”
McKee’s earpiece that connects to his phone also comes in handy managing the different meat products he, his wife Hannah, and their five children raise. They include beef, pork and poultry. They sell meats directly as well as at the Woodstock Farmers Market. They sell them wholesale to Bull Valley Farm Country Store in Bull Valley and Von Bergen's Country Market near Hebron.
“It’s long hours, it’s long days,” says McKee. “It’s a thankless job sometimes, but we’re here for our customers.”
The Marengo native, who started managing his first piece of county farmland when he was 14, believes agriculture will always play a major role in the county and region’s economy.
“I’m excited about the opportunities in agriculture, especially for young people.”
Chris McKee pauses harvest to have lunch in the field with his wife Hannah (left), daughter Hallie and son Clayton.
Chris McKee shows his son Clayton, 10, how to find the oil dipstick on one of their tractors taking part in soybean harvest on a recent fall day near Woodstock.
Chris McKee, McHenry County Farm Bureau President, harvesting soybeans from his combine cab on a recent fall afternoon in a rural Woodstock.
Chris McKee calls his 2024 crop of soybeans he's harvesting "about average." He thinks late-season dryness may have been the difference between an "average" year for field crop yields and an outstanding one.